Fly Fishing Gear and Trout Flies for the Clark Fork River MontanaFly Line:If you want to enjoy the small trout in the headwaters and upper sections of the Clark Fork River, you may want to use a light rod to catch them. We would say the ideal fly line size would be a 4 weight, floating fly line.

If you fish for the browns and rainbow trout in the larger sections of the river we would recommend a 5 weight fly line. It would deliver most flies that are ideal for most of the fly fishing. If you fish streamers and nymphs, then we would go a little larger. We think a 6 weight line would be more desirable. You may want a sinking tip for the streamers.

Fly Rod:If you fish for the smaller trout as well as the larger ones, you would want a fly rod to handle each of the above line sizes. The four, five and six weight rods should be nine feet in length. A medium to medium fast action would be best in our opinion. This would make the rod moreversatile.

Fly Reel:The reels for the 4, 5 and 6 weight lines should have good drags. You don't want to hang a large brown or rainbow trout and loose it because of a poor drag. It should be smooth and adjust to fine increments.

Leaders:You should probably be using at least a 9 foot leader anywhere you fish the Clark Fork River unless you are fishing streamers. You may want to use a short leader of 3 or 4 feet for certain streamer flies. There are some situation where you may want to go up to 12 feet on the leader length, such as when you are fishing the Trico hatches that occur in parts of the river. You should have leaders in sizes ranging from 0X for streamers, up to 6X for small dry flies.

Tippet:Carry plenty of extra tippet in sizes ranging from 0X to 6X.

Waders:Waders are necessary and we suggest them even if your use a drift boat. You may want to get out and fish certain areas. We prefer the breathable type but you may need neoprene waders if you are fishing during the winter.

Wading Boots:Most of the bottom is either mud or soft soil or it is small gravel ranging from pecan size gravel up to baseball size stones. The canyon sections usually have mostly rock bottoms. Felt soles would be our choice. The new rubber soles may work well. We haven't tried them there yet.

Landing Net:Although a landing net is optional, we recommend one. There are some large trout in this river.

Trout Flies:We always recommend our "Perfect Fly" Trout Flies. We have specific imitations of every important insect that hatches on the Clark Fork River. It is best to use the hatch chart and select the flies to use for the period of time you will be fishing.

Options For Selecting Flies:1. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)with the dates you will be fishing this stream and we will send you a list of our fly suggestions. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response.

2. Call us 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide which flies you need.

3. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)with a budget for flies and we will select them to match the budget and get them to you in time for your fly fishing trip.

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